7 Years, 30 Days, True Love
by Vanya Caladwen
Summary: "What did he say her name was?" "Oh, I think he said it was Lily." He knew her name now. Lily. James Potter didn't know, at that moment in time, that his encounter with Lily Evans was only the beginning. Collection of 30 short one-shots. T for safety.
1. Beginning

**This was originally a 30 day challenge, but as it's been months now, I'm just going to use the prompts as a collection of drabbles/oneshots here. **

**Thanks to Zenappa for beta reading this, you're the best!**

**Beginning**

Steam enveloped families standing around a large scarlet train as they said their last goodbyes to their children for the year. The scene was the same for almost every family: the teary eyed parents, the grinning children who waved out of the windows of the big engine, the jealous glares of younger siblings who were denied the chance to leave with their siblings this time. The same scene throughout the platform, platform 9 ¾ . There was one family standing at the back of the crowd who didn't fit this picture. Two adults, husband and wife, were standing in the middle of the chaos looking a little out of place but still gazing around in wonder. The real difference was in their children. A blond girl who was standing at her parents' feet with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. The other, a redhead, on the train already with tears in her eyes. There was no fond goodbye for the witch in this family.

A boy with a mop of greasy black hair appeared in the doorway of the compartment, already dressed in his Hogwarts robes.

"I don't want to talk to you," the girl said.

"Why not?" the boy asked her.

"Tuney hates me! We saw that letter from Dumbledore."

"So what?"

"She's my sister!"

The boy couldn't come up with an adequate response to console the girl, so he decided upon changing the topic entirely.

"This is it! We're off to Hogwarts! Lily, you'd better be in Slytherin."

Another dark haired boy, this one far more well groomed stepped into the compartment with the words, "Slytherin? Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" His question was directed at another boy who had entered and taken a seat as he was saying this.

An argument about the houses soon ensued, a common scene pre-sorting among the students, until the two boys got the better of the greasy haired one in the first confrontation of many.

Lily got up out of her seat, dragging the boy with her as she left the boys, who were still laughing at her companion.

"Come on Severus, let's find another compartment."

"See ya, Snivellus!" the boy lounging on the seat called as they left. The first boy had just recovered from his fit of laughter.

"Nice one Sirius! You'd better break that chain of Slytherins, I like you already."

James Potter sat down on the train seat and leaned his head back into the cushion. He hadn't even arrived at the school yet, and he'd already made a new friend, as well as an enemy. It was going to be a fantastic year.

Thoughts of the redhead came to the front of his mind, she had stuck up for that worthless slimeball, but she was spunky, and that hair…

"What did he say her name was?" James asked Sirius.

"Huh?" It was evident that Sirius wasn't thinking of the little redheaded girl. He was probably dreaming about the feast that awaited them at the castle.

"That girl that was with the snake, the red head. What was her name?"

"Oh, I think he said it was Lily. Troublesome type, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah…" James agreed, halfheartedly. He knew her name now. Lily.

He really hoped that little shimmer of spirit that she had shown was the biggest personality trait of hers. _Reckon she could be a lot of fun if she could ditch the loser._ _Hope she's a Gryffindor._ James Potter didn't know, at that moment in time, that his encounter with Lily Evans was only the beginning.


	2. Accusation

**Accusation**

"Potter!"

Lily Evans was storming into the common room; her fiery hair flew behind her to match her temper. The boy who was the subject of her wrath was lounged in a red chair by a roaring fireplace, flanked on both sides by three other boys, Sirius, Remus, and Peter.

"Evans!" he exclaimed and spread his arms in greeting. "So good to see you, come have a seat!"

Lily stopped in front of him with her hands on her hips and a scowl plastered on her face.

"Don't play with me James, I know what you did."

James kicked his feet up on the footrest in front of him and raised an eyebrow. He was the picture of confidence, which only served to infuriate Lily even more.

"So now you're keeping tabs on my doings? Evans, I'm touched!"

"As if," Lily snarled. "Don't try to change the subject; I know what you did to Sev! That hex, I know it was you!"

James yawned like he was bored with the conversation and said, "Now you're the one changing the subject, I was under the impression that we were talking about me, not Snivillus."

"I really wish you would stop calling him that," Lily said, annoyed. Then, she responded to the content in James' words. "And no, we're not! _We_ aren't talking about anything. Just watch out for your own skin the next time you mess with Severus." She pulled out her wand and pointed it at James's throat, held it for effect, and then stormed up to the dormitories. Sirius, who was leaning on the armchair to James' right, laughed.

"You're not really afraid that she'll follow up on that, are you Prongsie? Evans, the goody two shoes, hexing James Potter?"

James rolled his eyes. "Sirius, ask me that again after you see her in Charms class. You may not have noticed during your naps, but she's capable of everything she says."

Sirius nodded once, "Fair enough. You're not going to stop us from raising hell though, right?"

James grinned at his best friend. "Wouldn't dream of it."

Little did anyone in the room know, those confrontations were what James Potter lived for. Those rare bits of conversation where Lily Evans actually _sought _him out to talk. No, James Potter would never stop ruining Severus Snape's life, not until he made Lily go out with him. Not until she loved him back.


	3. Restless

**I just wanted to mention that all of these chapters are being beta read by the lovely Zenappa, she fixes my work and makes it less terrible. :) So be nice, and say thank you! You can also pop over to read some of her stories as well, they're brilliant! At the time that this is posted, she's feeling awful and she's really sick, so go and be thankful and read some of her stories. Tell her I sent you. ;) **

**On to the chapter!**

**Restless**

Lily Evans flipped over in her bed for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Whichever way she looked, she could not get comfortable. _Flip. _The rusty old heater. _Flip. _Dorcas' bed. _Flip. _That same heater.

Lifting her head off of the pillow with a sigh and swinging her legs over the edge, Lily decided to give up on sleep and work on her Transfiguration essay that was due the day after the following one. It was a bit chilly in the room once she'd left the soft warmth of her covers seeing as she had on muggle pajamas- a pair of shorts and a tank top. She grabbed a sweatshirt that was draped over the foot of her bed sporting the word "GRYFFINDOR" in gold letters on a scarlet background. The woman at the custom clothing store had given her the strangest look when she had requested that on the fabric, but Lily was proud of how it had turned out. It was a small link to the wizarding world when she went away for the summer.

Lily grabbed her book bag from where it was slumped against her bed with one hand and reached for her wand with the other. There was enough moonlight to see in the room of gently sleeping girls, but once on the stairs Lily knew that she wouldn't be able to see the step in front of her foot.

She crept out of the dorm, shivering when her bare foot touched the frigid stone of the stairway, and shut the door softly behind her.

"_Lumos,"_ she said softly, and the path in front of her was lit in a harsh but effective blue hued light. She descended into the common room quickly and ended her spell with an equally quiet, "_Nox" _as she could now see by the firelight in the room. She fell into one of the well worn armchairs by the fire and curled her legs up under her, enjoying the warmth of the fire on her chilled legs. She was about to pull out her essay from her bag, placed on her left, when something caught her eye.

Her heart leaped into her throat, and her entire body froze at the sight of a hunched over form in the chair next to her. On impulse, Lily yelped and threw her arm out in front of her, wand in hand.

The figure flailed around, and Lily saw a flurry of papers fly into the air as whoever it was next to her was startled by her exclamation of surprise.

Lily, having gotten over her momentary fear, realized that this was probably another student who was up late studying and had fallen asleep in the chair by the warm fire. She worriedly got up to apologize to the student who was now on the ground. She extended her hand to him, for she could see now that it was in fact a boy, and said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that- Potter!"

Lily pulled back her hand as if she had been burned once she had recognized the boy. He had lost his glasses in his surprise of being woken up by a screech and didn't realize who had been helping him up.

"Merlin's beard, what the hell? What kind of a rubbish- Evans!"

James had found his glasses it would seem as his disposition toward his "helper" changed dramatically.

Lily rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"Potter, are you going to just lay there on the ground like an idiot?"

James smirked and replied back, "Maybe. The view's not so bad from down here."

Lily was suddenly painfully aware that she was wearing very short shorts. She opened her mouth in disgust and hit him over the head with a nearby pillow, knocking his glasses askew again. She sat down in the chair again with a huff of anger. James scrambled up from the ground and sat perched on the arm of her chair. He took it as a good sign that she didn't hex him away for this.

"Jeez Lily, sorry. Don't… hit me again," James said, the last line added in as Lily turned to glare at him. Her features softened once she had realized what he was saying and once she'd gotten past the fact that it was him speaking. James realized what he'd said too, and wasn't sure how to feel about it. He could attribute it to being tired and off guard at the moment, and maybe a few too many Butterbeers snuck in courtesy of Sirius earlier that evening. He'd first, apologized, and second, called her by her first name. It sort of slipped out, and he didn't think that her last name sounded as nice with an apology as her first did. _Lily. _It had a flow to it that Evans just lacked.

"I won't," came her surprising reply. She seemed to have accepted the fact that he apologized and was moving on from it because she promptly reached into her bag to get her Transfiguration essay that had been briefly abandoned with the event that had occurred.

"So why are you down here this late?"

James couldn't resist talking to Lily on an occasion as rare as this, where he had her alone and not screaming at him. Lily was a spoilsport, but that didn't stop James from craving her attention.

"I couldn't sleep."

James took that as an adequate reply and didn't press for more information. He just sat there, watching as Lily's graceful handwriting filled the page with subject matter unfit for her beautiful script. Sitting this close, he had never had the chance to appreciate Lily's finer points of beauty, especially now that she wasn't in a raging rant against him. She smelled nice, he thought. Not like other girls with their overly flowery or fruity scents, Lily smelled of vanilla and spice. It wasn't flashy or overpowering; it was simple and elegant- much like its wearer.

James mentally checked himself; he couldn't sit here and ponder over the complexities of Lily Evans' scent. He had to keep focused to make sure he didn't do anything rash and push her away. No matter how obvious his playful banter with her was, constantly asking her out, he couldn't reveal how much he actually cared for her. Not now.

Lily was very much aware of James sitting right beside her, watching her work. It was a little disconcerting to her focused thoughts on the intricacies of Transfiguration. She couldn't complain and send him away though, he _had_ apologized, and his use of her first name wasn't lost on her.

He wasn't distracting in an annoying way this time, and that in itself caused Lily to be twice as confused. She wasn't sure what James Potter was becoming at this point. There were signs, too many to be ignored. First he had apologized, used her name, and was now sitting here _quietly_ watching her do _schoolwork?_ No, that wasn't the James Potter she knew. Then there was that all important sign that she had, the reason she was here in the first place.

Lily Evans had been having dreams about James Potter. She could always hide behind her mask of annoyance in the daylight hours, but at night even her unconscious mind was screaming out at her: She was falling for James. She was slowly seeing that, slowly hating him less, but she couldn't reveal how much she actually cared for him. Not now.


	4. Snowflake

**Snowflake**

Christmastime at Hogwarts was a time of joy, love, and general mischief making for four select students within its walls. It was also one of the most stressful times for the prefects of Hogwarts, most notably Lily Evans, who spent her time chasing down said mischief makers. That was how Lily was spending her afternoon that Christmas Eve.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked a young first year student. The girl nodded that she was and scampered away from the increasingly dangerous sixth year. It was wise to avoid Lily when she was chasing down James Potter and his crew; doing this made her way more likely to lash out at someone who so much as stepped one toe out of line. The little first year had given her the tip that she had heard that James was planning something in the Gryffindor common room, and Lily was not in the mood to clean up some prank of his on Christmas Eve. It was bad enough luck that the Potters hadn't made their son come home for the vacation, now she had to deal with two out of the four Marauders on her own holiday- James and Sirius.

Lily ran from where she was outside of the library up a few flights of stairs and down several corridors, passing many confused students and pushing aside some of the slower ones. Those who had known the frustration Lily had with the four boys for their six years at Hogwarts just shook their heads and kept on walking.

Lily stopped in front of the common room door by thrusting her hands out in front of her and catching herself on the face of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Excuse me," the portrait started to go off on her, "you really should-"

Lily snapped, "Save it. Nix frustum."

The fat lady scowled at being interrupted but opened at hearing the password. Lily raced inside, expecting the worst, and was left gaping in amazement at what she saw.

The common room was decorated with what looked like 1,000 paper snowflakes. Each one was different, and uniquely crafted so that each was so intricate and lifelike; it looked like she was really seeing a snowstorm in the cozy room. In the middle of the room waving their wands about and lifting more snowflakes into the air were James and Siruis, as expected.

Upon seeing her arrive, James exclaimed, "Lily!" and the snowflakes that he was levitating fell to the ground to rest in a heap. Sirius did likewise at hearing his partner's shock. The two stood there looking at her; James was biting his lip and Sirius looked around away from the girl. Lily stood still as well. All three of them were staring at each other in surprise, and eventually James cleared his throat and broke the prolonged silence.

"Happy Christmas?" James said. Lily's face broke into a grin.

"I'm going to ignore this tonight. Happy Christmas James, Sirius," She said this and turned around to walk through the portrait door back to the rest of the castle. She had a feeling that there was going to be quite a festive party that night in the Gryffindor tower.


	5. Haze

**Haze**

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on Lily, it's just a little bit of fun!"

"No. I have to finish this essay for Transfiguration-"

"Lily, that's not due for another two days. Come down!"

Marlene McKinnon was currently attempting to persuade her best friend, Lily Evans, to attend the wild party that was taking place down the stairs from their dorms in the Gryffindor common room. The Quidditch team had just completed their last season win against Slytherin, and while they had not won the cup yet, it had been their final match against the green and silver and that was cause enough to celebrate!

"Marlene, you know what will happen if I go down there. Potter will be insufferable with his big fat head, and I'll just get annoyed and there will be a scene. Now, if you would like to go down and handle that crowd, by all means, go ahead, but I, for one, am staying right here."

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Lily, you haven't once been to one of these parties. You don't know that it'll be like that for a fact! Try it out!"

"I will not!"

The other girl's face took on a mischievous look with her smirk and sudden playful stance. "If you don't go down there and make an attempt to enjoy yourself, I will make sure that Potter suddenly believes you to be enamored with him – he won't leave you alone for at _least_ a week."

Lily's eyes narrowed as she looked at her friend. "McKinnon, you devil."

Marlene's smirk matched Lily's description. "So you're coming then?" Lily groaned but swung her legs over the edge of her bed and slipped her shoes back on. Marlene clapped, and the two headed down the stairs to the party.

Once there, the cheering, jumping, and general mayhem was enough for Lily to make an attempt to get away from the swelled pride of James Potter, but the boy's ability to search her out in a crowd never failed to astound.

"Alright, Evans?" James' voice penetrated her ear drums, loud and slurred together. She rolled her eyes.

"I was until I saw your fat head, Potter," came her snarky retort.

"Ah I see! So you're even better now that you can enjoy my company, is that it?"

"Bugger off, Potter."

James laughed and leaned in to stagger towards her. He put an arm around her shoulders, which she quickly shrugged off. She could smell butterbeer on his breath. "Careful Evans, wouldn't want to soil your impeccable reputation, using language like that!" She made a noise of exasperation and pushed away from him. "Hey, Lily!"

Lily turned in spite of herself, surprised at his use of her name. Then, she turned away from him again, and stormed up the stairs from where she had recently come. James Potter was a horrible pig who always thought himself the center of everyone's world. She could not deal with him now, especially not in his state of drunkenness from that horrid butterbeer.

Without knowing why, she angrily grabbed a pillow off of her bed and threw it as hard as she could against the door. It landed disappointingly quietly on the floor, and Lily, unsatisfied with the small release of anger that it had provided, sat down hard on her bed without bothering to retrieve it. Knowing that anger wouldn't solve any problems, she settled down in the covers of the four poster bed and willed herself to sleep.

It wasn't long before she felt herself being shaken out of sleep by someone's persistent hand. Lily opened her eyes to meet those of Marlene, dark circles under them no doubt from her late night in the common room. Her voice was quite annoyed when she spoke.

"Lily, go downstairs and deal with him, he's been at the foot of the stairs all night. I think he tried climbing the slide twice on the way up here, he's driving me crazy!"

Lily didn't have to ask who 'he' was; she rolled her eyes and obliged.

At the bottom of the stairs to the girl's dormitories, James was sitting with his hands behind his head like he was intent on waiting for a while. At the sight of her, he sprung up onto his feet and cried, "Evans!" Lily grunted in reply. He looked put out for a second but quickly sprung back.

"I am here apologizing for my conduct last night, I was in this sort of haze, you know? It was like my passion for you overcame my senses and caused me to stumble all over you."

Lily rolled her eyes at him. "That's called being drunk, Potter. Now will you please move so Marlene will calm down?"

James defiantly shook his head and said, "Not until you accept my apology."

Lily sighed, "Apology accepted, now get out!"

He bowed low and said, "As you wish, your highness." He retreated with a smirk on his face, knowing that it would get her riled up. Lily growled and stalked back into her dormitories.

James Potter was an arrogant git. Despite his one redeeming quality, the fact that he had come to apologize, and seemed to sincerely mean it…

He was still a self-obsessed git.


	6. Flame

**Flame**

She was his shining light, the one that lit up his whole world. She made the dark times better and the better times brighter. James Potter wasn't just in love with her; he was unable to live without her in his life.

It had gone on like that for years. For seven years they had gone to Hogwarts in the fall, for seven years he had dreaded the summer months, because that meant giving up his light, his Lily.

But not this time. This time, he would never leave his Lily. They were leaving behind all that was familiar to live in the real world. There were dark times ahead, darker than any before, with the rise of the Dark Lord, but James knew that he would survive. He had his Lily, his shining light, and she would illuminate his life forever; now as his girlfriend, soon as his wife, forever as his love.

It was she who stood beside him now as they looked out at the castle for the last time. In the setting sun by the lake, her hair glowed to the color of fire. A flame that matched her temper, her brilliance, her passion, and her ability to be the light of his life. A flame was a good fit for Lily.

He leaned down and kissed the top of her head; it was warm like the embers it resembled. She tilted her head up to meet his lips, and James was content in knowing that he would have her, his fiery Lily, forever.


	7. Formal

**Formal**

"Honestly mate, it's fine."

Remus was reassuring James about his current situation, about to attend the "Slug Club" formal Christmas party that was being hosted by Professor Slughorn that evening. He had on very expensive high quality dress robes as a gift from his parents.

Behind the two, Sirius, the cause of the "situation," was sitting on his bed with a dark look on his face as he said, "Prongs, when you said you were going to that party, I thought that it was a sad attempt at a joke! You can't leave tonight! We have plans! This is our last chance; it's our seventh year!"

Peter looked on nervously as Sirius glowered at his best friend. James sighed.

"I know, I'm sorry, but I can't turn Lily down! I told her I'd go with her already!"

Sirius replied, "Well you shouldn't have!"

Remus, ever the voice of reason, chimed in to say, "Sirius, what's done is done, we'll have to manage without him. Let him go, for god's sake!"

Sirius had tackled James to the ground and was currently pinning him down, whether to keep him there or to spite him was left undetermined. James shoved him off in his moment of distraction provided by Remus and backed away towards the door. He looked in Remus' direction for a nod to show that he would handle Sirius and left quickly.

At the party, James took in the sight of Lily in a beautiful emerald dress that matched the color of her eyes and contrasted with her dark red hair. It didn't clash; it made it all the more stunning.

"Evans," James said, and she looked at him.

"Yes?"

"Fancy a dance with me?"

She smiled and took the hand that he offered.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything, James."

As they turned slowly in a circle, Lily rested her head on his shoulder. He took in the scent of her – she smelled of vanilla, it was nice, he thought.

Instantly, a bang could be heard from somewhere else in the castle along with shrieks of many a student who must have witnessed whatever had caused it. Lily looked up with accusation in her eyes.

"James… what was that?"

He laughed out loud and said, "For once, I had nothing to do with it!"

She raised an eyebrow. "Somehow, I don't believe you."

He made a serious face and said, "No, I swear. The Marauders are down a man tonight, I can honestly say that I'm clear of any and all mischief in the castle tonight."

He ran a hand through her hair and leaned in closer. "I wouldn't miss this, miss you, for the world."


	8. Companion

**Companion**

Sirius Black was jealous. No one would ever tell him that to his face, and he would never admit it to himself, but it was true. Now that his best friend, James, had gotten himself a girlfriend, he was lonely and therefore sitting alone on his bed. He had taken to staying there for hours at a time, thinking over the past.

He missed all of the countless hours that they would spend in the common room or in their dorms plotting new pranks or inventing new hexes to try out on Snape and the rest of his Death Eater crew. The two of them; they were brilliant, always using each other to push off into a new level of greatness in everything that they did. Sure, Sirius supported James' new relationship with Lily, but he didn't approve. She was dampening his bright spirit – she mellowed him out.

He missed the hot headed and brave boy of the past who was quick of the tongue and even quicker of the wand. James spent more time with Lily now in their fresh relationship than with his three best friends: Sirius, Remus, and Peter. Sirius felt pushed aside and worthless, like the last, squished pie on the platter at the feast. That was a depressing thought, Sirius Black as a broken cream pie.

He had to snort at the thought of that, but nothing could pull him out of the mood that he had created for himself. His thoughts were becoming as black and serious as his name.

James had left them! He was happy now, but he was happy before! They had been best friends! They were comrades, companions, marauders! Did all of that mean nothing now?

A single tear fell down out of the boy's eye, and he blinked angrily. He was too strong for that.

Sirius jumped off of the mattress that had lost some of its spring with his years of sleeping and otherwise abusing it with general mischief. He forced himself into a state of concentration and quickly morphed into his animagus form – a black dog.

Instantaneously, the pain dulled but didn't fade. Instead, it became a sort of primal raw feeling of loneliness. He was so alone.

The dog padded to the foot of his friend's old bed – long since cold now that James was the head boy in his own quarters – and crawled underneath the wooden frame, and curled up under the bent beams.

_Man's best friend. Man's companion. Where the hell did I go wrong__?_

Not strictly Jily, but I really like exploring others' opinions on their relationship and interactions. Clearly, some deep Sirius feels going on in here, review and let me know what you thought of this new perspective! Thanks!


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